The Infamous Spinach Incident
by ForsakenAngelAlesha
Summary: OneShot SasuHina We all know this situation when we have a little bit of green spinach stuck visibly between our front teeth, right? But things like this would never happen to someone like Sasuke Uchiha, right?


**A/N: Things like this happen when my mind is wandering while I'm cooking dinner. And now it's like 4 a m (yes, I'm **_**that **_**slow when it comes to writing) and I'm not a native speaker. Hah, that's my excuse for stupid mistakes and/or mistypes. Well, I proofread so don't be afraid. xD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. BUT! I own the noodles with spinach and tomatoes! Don't 'ew' me, it tastes really good with cream sauce and italian spices.**

Hinata carried a tray laden with food. Somehow she managed to spot the last empty table and made her way there without a) bumping into someone, b) tripping, c) letting go of the tray or d) all of the above. She was extremely relieved when she put the tray on the table and slumped on one of the four chairs. She always dreaded lunchtime. Whenever she could, she would bring homemade food and find a quiet place to eat by herself, like on the rooftop of the school or-

Her train of thoughts came to an abrupt stop when she saw a certain blonde-haired person with wondeful ocean blue eyes and a flashing smile... the man of her dreams. And he stood directly in front of her! And the way he expectantly looked at her he had asked her a question. Oh God, how embarrassing, she hadn't heard a word as she had been too busy ogling him. Sakura quickly took the scene in and jumped in to rescue Hinata.

"Is it okay if we sit with you?" she repeated the question and earned a nod from a speechless Hinata who was currently trying to stare at Naruto without being noticed or appearing rude. Sakura took the seat diagonally across from Hinata and waved at Sasuke who was trailing behind to come and sit by her side. But it didn't go according to her plan because Naruto never missed an opportunity to side next to his pink-haired crush.

Sasuke scowled because he didn't like lunchtime either. He had to sit beside that obnoxious blonde or that loud pink-head who were his teammates or beside equally annoying fan girls with blushes on their cheeks like that little blue-haired girl. Unfortunately, that was the only free seat.

When he sat down she stole a glance at him. He mentally sighed. Here we go... But she didn't say anything and quickly averted her gaze. Was she playing hard to get? Well, it didn't work on him, he was not interested.

He took his pair of chopsticks and prodded today's cafeteria food. It was noodles with spinach and tomatoes. It smelled okay and he rather liked vegetables. Besides, it was healthy which couldn't hurt. He ignored the buzzing voices that filled the cafeteria and started eating. One voice was especially hard to ignore. It gave him a headache every day... "I don't like spinach!" Naruto whined like a little child.

Hinata chuckled quietly.

Sakura hit him in the head.

Sasuke ground his teeth in annoyance.

He opened his mouth to say something not so nice to Naruto when he felt a pair of eyes on him.

"D-Don't say anything!" the dark girl on his right said quickly in a low voice. In fact, he was the only one who could hear her because he sat right next to her.

He glared at her which caused her to flinch and then blush at her own impolite behaviour. He gave her a once-over and noticed that he didn't know her name. Strange... he thought practically every girl in Konoha swooned over him and would therefore try to catch his attention every now and then. But he couldn't remember that this quiet girl had ever approached him. Her baggy clothes were not revealing at all and quite different from what most girls would wear around him. She also didn't attempt to strip him with her eyes. In fact, she didn't even look at him anymore but mainly at her hand in her lap, only stealing an occasional glance at that idiot Naruto. Sasuke was... confused (i.e. his pride was hurt).

"And why would I do that?" he snapped at her.

"B-B-Be-" she started and her white eyes met his glowering black ones for a moment, her distinctive eyecolour enabling him to relate her to the Hyuuga clan. "B-Bec-" "Listen, Hyuuga" he cut in, not patient enough to wait for her to spit it out. "It's pretty obvious that you have a crush on that dobe-" she gasped "but when he get's on my nerves I'm going to tell him, and I don't care if you want me to shut up because I won't."

Hinata's jaw pretty much dropped. At least he had the decency to whisper. Hinata didn't want everyone to hear about her crush on Naruto and she definitely wasn't keen on being the school's gossip topic number 1. Sasuke was satisfied when she didn't respond. True, the girl looked aghast and it was probably the longest sentence he had ever said but he thought it was worth it.

He turned around to shout at Naruto like he initially intended to before this Hyuuga girl had stopped him.

"S-Sa-Sa-Sasuke-san..." She gulped.

With an audible growl he turned to face her. How dare she interrupt him AGAIN?

"P-P-P-Please" she stuttered and backed away slightly. Her brows were covered in little beads of sweat.

"Relax" he groaned, "I won't bite." He had to surpress the urge to smack himself. A word like THAT of HIM in front of a GIRL was practically an invitation to a sickeningly seductive comment. But to his complete and utter surprise she eased up as if she really had been afraid of him.

"N-N-No offence, b-but" she paused shortly to gulp again and Sasuke rolled his eyes and took the chance to reassure her briefly: "None taken."

She took a deep breath as if to muster up all her courage and quickly blurted out: "I mean, i-it's just, you, you've got some spinach stuck b-b-between your teeth. A-A-And I d-didn't want...I-I-I think nobody noticed yet, and-and I didn't... want anyone... t-to l-laugh a... at... you." Her voice trailed off and her face was so red that she looked like she was about to explode. She almost had tears in her eyes and tried to become invisible or at least shrink to the size of a little dust fluff.

Sasuke would have chuckled at this cute display of bashfulness had the situation not been so grave. He didn't even dare to imagine what would have happened had he shouted at Naruto and thus given everyone a good view of his spinach-covered teeth. Oh god, the shame! The embarrassment! Goodbye, reputation. He would have shaven his hair and gone to a monastery to save the remnants of his dignity. He was deeply and forever indebted to... this Hyuuga girl. Must find out first name.

But of course he didn't let his inner turmoil reach the surface. He regarded her with his well proven cool-and-distant-glance.

"Thanks."

He wondered if this would cause her to sink further down in her chair because then her head would soon be level with the table. Instead, she heaved a sigh of relief. Oddly, Sasuke found it equally amusing. This was definitely one of the best days he had in... a. long. while. In his best mood he made his way to the next class. After a short (okay, long) detour to the sanitary where he picked the spinach out of his teeth and carefully made sure that every single tooth was spinach-free, of course.

The lesson was boring as hell but today Sasuke didn't mind that much. He spent some time observing the teacher's rant but not really listening to it and saw the other students either doze off or doodle on the table or just space out. The only one who was actually paying attention was his little Hyuuga saviour. She definitely needed some distraction. Besides, she was just too much fun to tease.

Sasuke scribbled three words on a piece of paper, crumpled it into a little ball, and tossed it onto her desk. It landed neatly between her hands. Her head jerked up as she frantically checked if the teacher had noticed. He was writing endless notes on the blackboard with his back turned to his students, though. She unfolded the paper.

"_I like spinach._" It read. It was a very...random statement, really. Hinata blinked. Then she carefully lifted her head and looked around in the classroom, trying to figure out who was sending her ominous messages. Nobody was trying to catch her eyes or making any other attempt to let her know it was them. She totally failed to notice Sasuke because in her universe the possibility of him giving her little notes in class just didn't exist. Did he have to stand on his desk and shout somthing like: "Over here!" ? Frustrated, he made another paper ball and threw it at her head. She stared at him in disbelief and her mouth formed a little "o". Then she hurriedly scribbled an answer and threw it back.

For a girl, she could aim pretty well. He smoothed out the paper and tried to decipher her shaky handwriting.

"_What else do you like? If I may ask._"

"_I might like your name... Tell me!_" Feeling very smug, he waited for her answer as the teacher droned on and on.

"_It's Hyuuga_" Well, duh.

"_Your first name, smartass_" He couldn't wait for her reaction and was extremely pleased with himself when he heard an audible gasp from across the classroom.

"_I'm so sorry! My name is Hinata Hyuuga_"

"_Sooo... Hinata, what do you like?_"

Sasuke never got a reply to that one. But he saw the crimson blush on her cheeks and the quick glance at that loudmouth blonde. Naruto clearly didn't deserve her! He didn't like her blush. Heck, he didn't even try to tease her to evoke this amusing blush! Jealousy would have stirred in Sasuke's stomach but in perfect self-denial he tagged it rivalry...

He ripped another piece of paper out of his exercise book and wrote:

"_Whatever. _

_What do you dislike?_"

It took some time until he received an answer. Hinata considered it thoroughly but then she settled on the truth.

"_I really don't like eating at the cafeteria._" There were a lot of crossed out words but the bell rang before Sasuke could inquire further. Of course HE had his reasons (namely, fangirls) why he tried to avoid the cafeteria but he was curious as to why anybody else might want to eat elsewhere. He caught a glimpse of blue hair when she left the classroom and he quickly grabbed her wrist.

"What's wrong with the cafeteria?" he asked nonchalantly.

She blushed and her eyes darted into every direction except for his when she fought for an answer. But she told the truth again, maybe it was the way he boldly confronted her with questions. "I-I-I'm kinda afraid of c-crowds. I-It's like, everyone's staring at y-your hands, how you hold the chopsticks, w-what you eat a-a-and y-you c-can't have someth-thing stuck between y-y-your teeth b-because someone will notice a-and p-p-point at you and laugh at you!" She clamped her eyes shut and prayed she would never have to give an explanation like that again. She felt pathetic. She couldn't remember having ever stuttered THAT much.

Sasuke thought her speech impediment was very annoying. He also thought her reason to avoid the cafeteria was very comprehensible. It was pretty much the same as his if he thought about it. Only he wasn't as paranoid as she was, of course.

His sixth sense told him that there were some fan girls nearby, trying to find him in the crowd of students. He let go of Hinata's sleeve quickly and ran away to find a hiding spot where he could wait until they would give up their search. Definitely not paranoid.

The next day at lunchtime, Sasuke craned his neck to spot her blue hair in the cafeteria. She was nowhere to be seen. Not that he minded or anything.

When he tried to throw paper balls with little messages at Hinata in class, he got caught by their teacher and was sent to detention. This day definitely sucked. He liked to glare at her whenever their paths crossed in the corridors though, because it never failed to make her blush.

One day just after school he saw her walking out of the doors. He jogged to catch up with her and then walked next to her. "What's your favourite place at school?" he asked. Taken by surprise, she answered: "The rooftops!" She liked to go there to be alone and to relax. It was something like a secret refuge to her. She hadn't intended to tell anyone about this place because she didn't want more people to use it as a place to hang out. But then again, this was Sasuke. He clearly wasn't the gossiping type. And maybe he needed a refuge, too.

"I-I'll make a lunchbox tomorrow. It-It doesn't really make a difference if I cook f-for one person or two. If you want, I'll m-make some for you and w-we... we could eat on the rooftop... together" she blurted out and gulped, unsure what his reaction might be.

The thought of homemade food made him sigh happily inside. But of course he kept his cool composure on the outside.

"I... will make something with spinach, i-i-if you want" she mumbled and added with a modest blush, "I'm a pretty good cook..."

"Okay" he said and was well aware that she deserved a much more enthusiastic answer. But she looked up and a broad smile lit up her face as if his brief answer was beyond her hopes. She nodded happily and said: "Okay!"

She really did make a lunchbox. A very lovingly arranged and, more important, very tasty BIG lunchbox which indeed contained spinach, as well. Hinata was happy when she saw how much Sasuke liked her food. He decided it was nice to sit and eat with her even though she was a girl. She didn't say much which was nice, too. He left for his next class with a warm feeling in his stomach. Must be the good meal.

The next class they had together, Sasuke tossed her a little piece of paper again which read:

"_I'm bored._

_The teacher is annoying._

_I don't like the cafeteria, too. Let's eat on the rooftop again sometime_" He watched her reaction from his seat in the back of the classroom and was satisfied when a genuine smile lit up her face.

A few days later he found a little note on his desk, tugged between two pages of his exercise book with an edge sticking out. He immediately recognized Hinata's handwriting. The lines were shaky and some words were crossed out as if she wasn't sure how to express herself. In an odd and amusing way it depicted her habit of speaking perfectly.

"_I have made a lunchbox with spinach today, again. Please feel free to join me. Only if you want to, of course!_" He folded the piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket. He didn't notice that he was smiling until a certain dobe made a remark: "Sasuke-teme, why are you grinning like an idiot?!" He ignored Naruto and waited, well, maybe not so patiently until the bell rang.

At lunchtime, Sasuke ran up to the rooftop and convinced himself that his heart was just pounding so fast because he had run up so many stairs. He swept Hinata up and kissed her. When he let her go (very reluctantly) after about one minute, she was deep crimson, and breathless, and about to faint. He gave her a quick peck on the lips again to shake her out of her daze, promising her that he a) definitely wanted to kiss her again and b) would refrain from that much tongue action until she was used to it.

Sasuke was happy that she didn't sqeal or jump at him or whatever fan girls might try but blushed deeper than ever before and cast her eyes down with a cute, shy smile on her - admittedly very red and moist and recently-kissed-looking - lips.

They sat in silence and shared Hinata's lunch, both avoiding the other one's eyes, both with pounding hearts and smiles on their faces, Hinata's a dreamy smile and Sasuke's more of a smug smirk. Because old habits die hard.

He had it all planned out. He could spend lunchtime with her (and her homemade food) on the rooftop, the fan girls would leave him alone and he could eat as much spinach as he wanted because there would always be someone who told him discreetly that he had to pick some spinach out of his teeth.

Sometimes, life was just perfect.


End file.
